


I Like Your Room

by endemictoearth



Category: My Mad Fat Diary
Genre: Comfort, Cute, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-05-20
Updated: 2013-05-20
Packaged: 2018-04-09 09:47:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,516
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4343771
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/endemictoearth/pseuds/endemictoearth
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Rae gets sick at Finn's house, and he looks after her.</p>
            </blockquote>





	I Like Your Room

**Author's Note:**

> Based on a prompt from one of my favorite fic writers: http://endemictoearth.tumblr.com/post/50888304316/ 
> 
> I realize now that I've never given this fic a title! So, this is just something I slapped on it to fulfill requirements. :)

From the moment she grabs the can in mid-air, Rae is determined. Chloe is NOT going to get the best of her today. Rae can see Chloe’s tenacity, too, as she gives Rae a steely-eyed squint and pursed-lipped smile over the magazine she’s flipping through.

As she struggles to crack open the can, there is a little voice in the back of her head that whispers, “Bad idea. You’ve already vommed once this week.” She sweeps the thought out of her head with a small shake, and takes a big sip of beer. The louder voice in the front of her head says, “So I’m a boring weirdo, am I, Chloe?” and she is gratified when she can point out Chloe’s musical ignorance a moment later.

Half an hour later, Chloe daintily excuses herself for the “powder room.” As she leaves the room, Rae mutters at the album she’s holding, “Did you mean the toilet?” Finn lets out a surprised laugh. She looks up and smiles conspiratorially at Finn, and then returns her attention to the record. Babylon Zoo. She hands it to Finn, and he grins at her as he eases it out of its sleeve and places it on the turntable.

Rae catches Finn’s eye as the familiar Spaceman starts up, and they both giggle. Then, they both take a swig of beer in unison, and return to inspecting Finn’s collection.

* * *

“So, what about rave, then?” Finn says, hoping he sounds nonchalant. “Your mum not lettin’ ya go?”

Rae lets out a small sigh as she turns to him. “It’s complicated.”

“It really would be shit if you don’t come.” Their eyes meet and there is a split second where Finn thinks that maybe she gets it. But then she rolls her eyes and says,

“All the rest of the gang are still goin’! You’re still gonna have a good time.”

Frustrated, Finn can barely wait until she finishes her sentence before blurting out. “The rest of the gang would fall apart if you’re not there!” She gives him a look like he’s crazy. “You ARE the gang!”

She shakes her head emphatically. “No, I mean it Rae!” He can hear his voice betraying him, climbing up in pitch. So he tries to play it cool with the next sentence. “Everyone else has got too much stuff goin’ on. You’re the most …y’know … normal.” He silently curses as he shakes his head, because that isn’t exactly what he means.

She shakes her head, too, and says, “That’s bollocks.”

“It’s true!” he protests, his voice once again betraying him. “Anyway, you’ve gotta go. I won’t take no for an answer, because …” Is he really going to say it? He can’t look at her, but he feels her eyes on him. He turns to face her, allowing himself a fleeting glance at her confused face as he grabs her hand and gently turns the palm up. He begins tracing letters, and after he draws the U, he looks up for her reaction. The expression on her face is almost impossible to read. Is she shocked? Confused? He hastily adds T and O to his message. I WANT YOU … TO. Rae seems to visibly relax for a second, and then puts her can of beer down on his desk, her face stricken.

“You okay?” Finn asks, worried that he might have freaked her out.

* * *

Rae feels the sick creeping up her esophagus and knows she can’t do anything to stop it. She manages to croak “Where’s your loo?” before she has to clamp her hand firmly over her mouth. Finn’s eyes, full of concern, follow his hand as he gestures to the hall. Rae walks as quickly as she can down the hall and glances back to make sure she has the right door. Finn nods, and she pushes the door open, honing in on the toilet.

* * *

Chloe, who is painstakingly reapplying her lip gloss in the mirror, shouts, “Oi!” as Rae rushes past her, repeating her cry of indignation as Rae refunds her lunch just two feet away from her.

Finn appears in the doorway, and Chloe can’t stop herself from smirking at him. She figures she has this contest sewn up. She isn’t the one heaving into a toilet bowl; so how could she not win this round? Finn barely looks at her, though, as he runs to help Rae. He gently puts his hand on her back and kneels next to her, asking her if she feels better. “Is there anything I can get you?” Rae’s arm weakly tries to push him away, and she shakes her head.

Chloe’s face is a mask of bewilderment. Why isn’t he as disgusted as she is? She shrugs, and realizes she should probably say something sympathetic, too. “Yeah, Rae, was it somethin’ ya ate?” Finn shoots her a dirty look. Maybe that wasn’t the best comment she could have made.

Just then, Finn’s dad appears in the doorway. “What’s all this?”

Finn looks up, concern written all over his face. “Rae’s not feelin’ well, Dad. Do we have any Pepto or anything?” 

“Let me see.” He reaches past Chloe to open the medicine cabinet. “Would ya mind movin’, love?” Chloe budges up to allow him to check. “Looks like we’re out.”

He looks back at Finn, who is busy rubbing Rae’s back. “Tell ya what, I’ll drop this lass home and run to the chemist’s to get some. I’ll be back in twenty minutes. You should probably get her to lie down for a bit, with a glass of water.”

Finn looks up at his dad, nodding gratefully. Chloe starts to protest, but Finn’s dad just guides her out of the loo and down the stairs with him.

* * *

Meanwhile, Rae is mortified. She managed to make it to the toilet and not chuck all over Finn’s record collection, thank Christ, but how embarrassing is this? She thinks,  _Chloe’s definitely won this round, just by keeping her lunch down_.

“‘Ere, can ya stand up?” Finn holds out some toilet tissue for her to wipe her mouth with, keeping his other hand on her back. She nods weakly and, after doing a cursory clean up, flushes the toilet to get rid of the evidence. She starts to stand herself up, and feels Finn miraculously supporting a lot of her weight as she does. “Easy now,” he breathes. “Don’t rush or anythin’.”

She stands up and immediately feels light-headed, so she steadies herself against the tile wall. Finn puts his arm around her and leads her out the door and back to his room, helping her onto his bed. She thinks to herself,  _of all the times I’ve imagined Finn getting me into his bed, THIS is not what I had in mind_.

“I’m fine, Finn. I should probably just go home. I’m so sorry.” She looks up at him, brow furrowed in embarrassment.

“Fer what? It’s not like ya can help gettin’ sick.” He smiles at her, and she feels herself cheer an iota or two. He doesn’t seem to be angry with her. “Now, jus’ relax and I’ll get ya some water.”

Rae looks around and asks, “Where’s Chloe?”

Finn glances down at his hands. “Dad nipped out for some Pepto and took her home.”

“Oh,” Rae says, shifting slightly in the bed. “Sorry.”

“What’re ya apologisin’ for now?” Finn sighs.

“Didn’t mean to drive Chloe off, is all.” Rae says, with some tension in her voice.

Finn shrugs. “She weren’t invited anyway. Jus’ showed up out o’ the blue.” He walks to the doorway and gazes back at her. “Will ya try an’ relax? I’ll be back in a second.”

Rae takes a deep breath and tries to calm down, wondering if she should try to leave while he’s out of the room. She really could use that water, though, she realizes as she tries to swallow.

Finn’s back in a minute. He flashes her a small smile and hands her the glass. She takes a sip and nods her thanks, then hands it back. He puts it on the bedside table, and then, strangely, he gently places the back of his hand against her forehead. She starts to whisper, “What are ya–?”

“My mum always did this when I’d get sick. Ya don’t feel too warm. I think that means it’s not the flu, but I don’t really know.”

“It was probably something I ate.” She knows exactly what it was, but can’t tell Finn that her bloody mental meds are fucking with her ability to drink alcohol and not be a “boring weirdo”. His fingers still press gently against her hairline. They felt cool at first; now they match the temperature of her own skin. She risks looking up at him, and finds him staring back at her.

He pulls his hand away and moves to sit on the edge of the chair next to the bed, sort of perching there, like a watchful bird. There is an awkward quietness that permeates the room. Rae can’t stand the pregnant silence and blurts out the first thing to come to mind.

“Your room’s nice. Bigger than mine.”  _Brilliant, Rae, you’ve mastered the formula for calculating area_ , she thinks, cursing herself.

“I like your room,” Finn protests. “It’s full of … you. Like, your personality or whatever.” He looks away and Rae squirms a bit.

* * *

_Well, that was a dumb thing to say_ , Finn thinks as he notices her fidgeting. He decides to try and bring it back to neutral territory. “Do you want some more water?”

“Erm, okay,” Rae says, sitting up straighter. She takes another sip, and when she’s done she once again suggests maybe she should go home.

_She can’t wait to get out of here_ , Finn thinks miserably. But he isn’t ready to let her leave. “No, Dad’ll be back with the medicine in a few minutes. And ya should prob’ly just relax for a while.” He hopes she says no, but offers, “I could leave ya alone for a bit, if ya want to take a nap or somethin’.”

Rae starts shaking her head the second he says the word “alone.” He wants so much to take that as a good omen.

“No, no. I don’t want ya to have to leave your room.” Finn sighs. She’s just being bloody selfless again. But then she makes another suggestion. “Why don’t ya put on some music?” The album had played itself out during the commotion, and he now notices the low rhythmic blip of the needle.

Grateful to be asked to do something he’s good at, he nods, smiling wide. Only now, he has to pick the perfect album. He’s already played the reggae he promised her, The Smiths, and Babylon Zoo, which he’s sort of come to think of as “their” song. It needs to be a soothing album, but meaningful.

Then, he thinks of that day in the park, when he’d just stripped off his shirt for the football and he saw her off in the distance, shimmering like a mirage. When he jogged over, he couldn’t help glancing at her chest, which was framed perfectly by the words “The Stone Roses” and “I Wanna Be Adored.” He nods to himself and pulls the album out, puts it on the turntable and slowly lowers the needle at the beginning of the first track. After the first warm crackle of static, he lowers the volume one tick on the stereo knob, and glances over his shoulder. If only he knew how much he looks like Rae did that time she played Sabotage with his 20p. She smiles when she hears the first guitar strains, and murmurs, “I love this album.”

He walks the few steps back to the chair and starts to sit down. Rae shakes her head and says, “Ya can’t listen to The Stone Roses sat straight up like a twat. Here,” she starts to sit up to push herself over against the wall, so he can join her.

He shakes his head and says, “No, stay where ya are, Rae, I’ll just–” he comes to the side of the bed and sizes her up for a second before he puts his right hand on the edge of the bed, and leans over her to put his left hand on her other side. Their faces are close, maybe closer than they’ve ever been before. Rae’s eyes are wide and Finn can feel her breath on his cheek. He quickly scrambles over her and lies down against the wall.

He glances over at her, to try and gauge her emotions. She’s got a sort of dazed smile on her face. “Jus’ thought, in case you start to feel sick again …” She winces at his words.

* * *

_What was that? He just climbed over me, and now we’re … in bed together. This is a dream, right?_ When he mentions her getting sick again, she can’t help but flinch. “I’m feelin’ much better, but thanks.” She can feel Finn rearrange himself next to her, and his foot is now touching hers, and the backs of their hands and forearms are brushing against each other. She can’t think when she’s ever felt this exact combination of terror and calm; it’s a nervous joy that’s wonderful but exhausting.

She hears Finn take a deep breath and whisper, “Rae?”

“Yeah?” she turns her head slowly to meet his gaze.

“I’m glad ya could come today. I mean, I’m sorry ya got sick, but … this is nice.” The hairs on the back of her arm stand up and she wonders if Finn can feel the goosebumps he just caused.

“Yeah,” she breathes. “It is.”  _Oh, what a sparkling conversationalist you are, Rae Earl!_  She closes her eyes and shakes her head. Once her eyes are closed, she feels how tired she is. It’s been a stressful week, and she did just lose her lunch. Maybe if she just keeps her eyes shut for a minute, she’ll feel better.

The second song on the album starts to play, and she sighs with contentment.

* * *

Finn knows he’s staring at her, but he can’t believes she’s right there, next to him, in his bed. Her eyes are closed, anyway. He watches the rise and fall of her chest, and has to actually concentrate on not slipping his hand into hers. Her breathing is slow and even now; she’s falling asleep. Finn feels his eyelids closing and his head drooping, too. He struggles for a moment, but then decides not to fight it.

* * *

When he wakes up, the room is dim and Rae has turned herself on her side in her sleep towards him, her hair strewn in front of her face and her arm across his chest. He doesn’t want to move a muscle, in case she wakes up, gets flustered and runs off. He allows himself to lift his head a couple of inches, just to see what time it is. Only … he can’t see the time, because there is a bright pink bottle of Pepto-Bismol in front of his clock.


End file.
